Ease of doing business index

The ease of doing business index was an index created jointly by Simeon Djankov, Michael Klein, and Caralee McLiesh, three leading economists at the World Bank Group, following the release of World Development Report 2002.[1][2][3] The academic research for the report was done jointly with professors Edward Glaeser, Oliver Hart, and Andrei Shleifer. Though the first report was authored by Djankov, Klein, and McLiesh, and they continue to be listed as "founders" of the report, some sources attribute the genesis of the idea to Djankov and Gerhard Pohl.[4][5] Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicated better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights. Empirical research funded by the World Bank to justify their work show that the economic growth effect of improving these regulations is strong.[6] Other researchers find that the distance-to-frontier measure introduced in 2016 after a decision of the World Bank board is not correlated with subsequent economic growth or investment.[7]

"World Development Report 2002", the basis of the research behind Doing Business, analyzes how to build effective institutions.[8] In understanding what drives institutional change, the report emphasizes the importance of history, highlighting the need to ensure effective institutions through a design that complements existing institutions, human capabilities, and available technologies. The study was guided by Joseph Stiglitz and Roumeen Islam with principal authors Simeon Dyankov and Aart Kraay. Several background papers, including by Nobel Prize winners Robert Shiller, Amartya Sen and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, were published in academic journals or books.[9][10][11][12][13]

The report was discontinued by the World Bank on September 14, 2021 following an audit documenting how bank leadership pressured experts to manipulate the results of the 2018 and 2020 reports.[14][15][16] Several organizations have proposed replacements, including the Antigua Forum, the World Bank, and the Fraser Institute.[17][18][19][20] In 2023 the Templeton Foundation extended a grant to Professor Robert Lawson at Southern Methodist University to propose a methodology for restarting the project in academia.[21]

The World Bank released the methodology for the replacement of the index in May 2023. For each of the twelve topic areas, the document provides the motivation, selected indicators, detailed questionnaires, benchmarking parameters, detailed scoring rules, and data collection sources. The World Bank conducted a series of methodology workshops worldwide. Their main purpose was to provide a detailed presentation on the project’s methodology, including overall scope and topic-specific information. The workshops also served to raise awareness about this new benchmarking initiative and disseminate its potential for reform advocacy, policy advice, and development research.[22]

World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index map for 2020
  ≥ 85.0
  80.0–84.9
  75.0–79.9
  70.0–74.9
  65.0–69.9
  60.0–64.9
  55.0–59.9
  50.0–54.9
  45.0–49.9
  40.0–44.9
  35.0–39.9
  30.0–34.9
  ≤ 25.0
  Data unavailable

Methodology

The report was a benchmark study of regulation.[8] The survey consisted of a questionnaire designed by the Doing Business team with the assistance of academic advisers. The questionnaire centered on a simple business case that ensures comparability across economies and over time. The survey also based assumptions on the legal form of the business, size, location, and nature of its operations.[23] The ease of doing business index was meant to measure regulations directly affecting businesses and did not directly measure more general conditions such as a nation's proximity to large markets, quality of infrastructure, inflation, or crime.

The next step was gathering data surveys of over 12,500 expert contributors (lawyers, accountants, etc.) in 190 countries who deal with business regulations in their day-to-day work. These individuals interacted with the Doing Business team in conference calls, written correspondence, and visits by the global team. For the 2017 report, team members visited 34 economies to verify data and to recruit respondents. Data from the survey was subjected to several rounds of verification. The surveys were not a statistical sample, and the results were interpreted and cross-checked for consistency before being included in the report. Results were also validated with the relevant government before publication. Respondents filled out written surveys and provided references to the relevant laws, regulations, and fees based on standardized case scenarios with specific assumptions, such as the business being located in the largest business city of the economy.[23]

A nation's ranking on the index was based on an average of 10 subindices:

  • Starting a business – Procedures, time, cost, and minimum capital to open a new business
  • Dealing with construction permits – Procedures, time, and cost to build a warehouse
  • Getting electricity – procedures, time, and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse
  • Registering property – Procedures, time, and cost to register commercial real estate
  • Getting credit – Strength of legal rights index, depth of credit information index
  • Protecting investors – Indices on the extent of disclosure, the extent of director liability, and ease of shareholder suits
  • Paying taxes – Number of taxes paid, hours per year spent preparing tax returns, and total tax payable as a share of gross profit
  • Trading across borders – Number of documents, cost, and time necessary to export and import
  • Enforcing contracts – Procedures, time, and cost to enforce a debt contract
  • Resolving insolvency – The time, cost, and recovery rate (%) under a bankruptcy proceeding

The Doing Business project also offers information on the following datasets:

  • Distance to the frontier – Shows the distance of each economy to the "frontier," which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included since each indicator was included in Doing Business
  • Good practices – Provide insights into how governments have improved the regulatory environment in the past in the areas measured by Doing Business

For example, according to the Doing Business (DB) 2013 report, Canada ranked third on the first subindex "Starting a business" behind only New Zealand and Australia. In Canada, there is 1 procedure required to start a business which takes on average 5 days to complete. The official cost is 0.4% of the gross national income per capita. There was no minimum capital requirement. By contrast, in Chad which ranked among the worst (181st out of 185) on this same subindex, there were 9 procedures required to start a business taking 62 days to complete. The official cost was 202% of the gross national income per capita. A minimum capital investment of 289.4% of the gross national income per capita is required.

While fewer and simpler regulations often imply higher rankings, this was not always the case. Protecting the rights of creditors and investors, as well as establishing or upgrading property and credit registries, may mean that more regulation is needed.

In most indicators, the case study referred to a small domestically owned manufacturing company—hence the direct relevance of the indicators to foreign investors and large companies is limited. DB uses a simple averaging approach for weighting sub-indicators and calculating rankings.[8] A detailed explanation of every indicator can be found through the DB website and a .xls archive that simulates reforms.

Some caveats regarding the rankings and main information presented have to be considered by every user of the report. Mainly:

  • Doing Business did not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms or investors, such as the macroeconomic conditions, or the level of employment, corruption, stability, or poverty, in every country.
  • Doing Business did not consider the strengths and weaknesses of neither the global financial system, nor the financial system of every country. It also doesn't consider the state of the finances of the government of every country.
  • Doing Business does not cover all the regulations or all the regulatory requirements. Other types of regulation such as financial market, environment, or intellectual property regulations that are relevant for the private sector are not considered.

The Doing Business report was not intended as a complete assessment of competitiveness or the business environment of a country and should rather be considered as a proxy of the regulatory framework faced by the private sector in a country.

History

The Doing Business report has its origins in a 2002 paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by Simeon Djankov, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes and Andrei Shleifer under the title "The Regulation of Entry". The study presents data on the regulation of entry of start-up firms in 85 countries covering the number of procedures, official time and official cost that a start-up must bear before it can operate legally. The main findings of the paper are that: "Countries with heavier regulation of entry have higher corruption and larger unofficial economies, but no better quality of public or private goods. Countries with more democratic and limited governments have lighter regulation of entry." The paper became widely known, with over five thousand academic references, because it provides quantitative evidence that entry regulation benefits politicians and bureaucrats without adding value to the private sector or granting any additional protection.[24][25]

Several countries have launched reforms to improve their rankings.[26][27] These efforts are motivated to a great scope by the fact that the World Bank Group publishes the data, and hence coverage by the media and the private sector every year. Also, Doing Business highlights every year the successful reforms carried out by each country. The Regulation of Entry was published, Simeon Djankov and Andrei Shleifer have published nine other academic studies, one for each set of indicators covered by the report.[9][10][11][28][29][30][31]

Over 18 years, 2003 to 2020, the reports recorded nearly 5,000 regulatory reforms implemented by 190 economies.

  • Poland was the global top improver in the past year. It enhanced the ease of doing business through four institutional or regulatory reforms, making it easier to register property, pay taxes, enforce contracts, and resolve insolvency.
  • Worldwide, 108 economies implemented 201 regulatory reforms in 2011/12 making it easier to do business as measured by Doing Business. Reform efforts globally have focused on making it easier to start a new business, increasing the efficiency of tax administration, and facilitating trade across international borders. Of the 201 regulatory reforms recorded in the past year, 44% focused on these 3 policy areas alone.
  • Singapore topped the global ranking on the ease of doing business for the seventh consecutive year, followed by Hong Kong SAR; New Zealand; the United States; and Denmark. Georgia was a new entrant to the top 10.

In 2014 Doing Business covered regulations measured from June 2012 through May 2013 in 189 economies. Singapore was the first economy of the global ranking followed by Hong Kong SAR, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Malaysia, South Korea, Georgia, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The UK's Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published a recommendation aiming to move the UK from tenth position to fifth by 2020.[32] For the first time data about Libya, Myanmar, San Marino, and South Sudan were collected for this report. 114 economies adopted 238 regulatory reforms during 2012/13: the reforms increased by 18% compared to the previous year.

In 2015, Doing Business covered regulations measured from June 2013 through June 2014 in 189 economies, including territories like Hong Kong.[33] For the first time this year, Doing Business collected data for 2 cities in 11 economies with more than 100 million inhabitants. These economies include Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The added city enables a sub-national comparison and benchmarking against other large cities.

In 2021, the World Bank discontinued Doing Business, following allegations of data manipulation, undue influence, and unethical behavior by several bank staff including Djankov, former World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva.[16][34][35]

Research and influence

As stated in the report, "Empirical research is needed to establish the optimal level of business regulation—for example, what the duration of court procedures should be and what the optimal degree of social protection is. The indicators compiled in the Doing Business project allow such research to take place. Since the start of the project in November 2001, more than 3,000 academic papers have used one or more indicators constructed in Doing Business and the related background papers by its authors."[36] An example of such empirical research is a paper on business regulation and poverty, published in Economics Letters.

More than 3,000 academic papers used data from the index.[37] The effect of improving regulations on economic growth is claimed to be very strong. Moving from the worst one-fourth of nations to the best one-fourth implies a 2.3 percentage point increase in annual growth. Another 7,000 working papers in economics and social science departments use the data from the Doing Business report. The 2016 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Oliver Hart is among the authors of such papers.

The various sub-components of the index in themselves provided concrete suggestions for improvement. Many of them may have been relatively easy to implement and uncontroversial (except perhaps among corrupt officials who may gain from onerous regulations requiring bribes to bypass). As such, the index has influenced many nations to improve their regulations. Several have explicitly targeted to reach a minimum position on the index, for example, the top 25 list. To consider the element of corruption and transparency in the economy, the index has also been combined with the Corruption Perceptions Index in the annual Best European Countries for Business publication.[38]

Somewhat similar annual reports are the Indices of Economic Freedom and the Global Competitiveness Report. They, especially the latter, look at many more factors that affect economic growth, like inflation and infrastructure. These factors may however be more subjective and diffuse, since many are measured using surveys and they may be more difficult to change quickly compared to regulations.

A November 2017 EconTalk podcast explains the lasting influence in academia and policy circles of the Doing Business report. Financial crises cyclically peak interest in research on insolvency, using the Doing Business data.[39]

Doing Business Report

The Doing Business Report (DB) was an annually published report which was developed by a team led by Djankov in 2003. It was published by the World Bank Group every year from 2003 to 2019 and aimed to measure the costs to firms of business regulations in 190 countries. The study was one of the flagship knowledge products of the World Bank Group in the field of private sector development and is claimed to have motivated the design of several regulatory reforms in developing countries. The study presented every year a detailed analysis of costs, requirements, and procedures a specific type of private firm is subject in all countries, and then, creates rankings for every country. The study is also backed up by broad communication efforts, and by creating rankings, the study spotlights countries and leaders that are promoting reforms.[40]

The DB was widely known and used by academics, policy-makers, politicians, development experts, journalists, and the business community to highlight red tape and promote reforms. As stated by the IEG study from the World Bank:

"For country authorities, it sheds a bright, sometimes unflattering, light on regulatory aspects of their business climate. For business interests, it has helped to catalyze debates and dialogue about reform. For the World Bank Group, it demonstrates an ability to provide global knowledge, independent of resource transfer and conditionality. The annual exercise generates information that is relevant and useful".

According to the DB, the regulation does matter for the development of the private sectors, and several reforms are suggested across the report to promote the development of the private sector and enable the business environment. Some highlighted findings of the DB are:

Contents

In 2017, the study contains quantitative measures of regulations for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, getting an electricity connection, and closing a business. As stated in the introduction of the study, "A fundamental premise of DB is that economic activity requires good rules. These include rules that establish and clarify property rights and reduce the costs of resolving disputes, rules that increase the predictability of economic interactions, and rules that provide contractual partners with core protections against abuse."

Evaluation

Doing Business was a controversial study, with passionate critics and devoted fans. As recognized by the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank, some have questioned the reliability and objectivity of its measurements while others doubt the relevance of the issues it addresses or fears it may unduly dominate countries reform agendas at the expense of more crucial development objectives. Attention given to the indicators may inadvertently signal that the World Bank Group values less burdensome business regulations more highly than its other strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Several limitations were present in the DB studies and have to be kept in mind when using the study:

  • The indicators and measures were referred to the costs, requirements, and fees of doing business in the country's largest business city; thus conditions elsewhere within the country may have differed.
  • To achieve cross-country standardization respondents were asked to give estimates for a limited liability company of a specific size. Costs for other forms and scales of businesses may have differed.
  • Transactions and fees to have cost out were very specifically defined. The costs of other types of transactions may differ.
  • The cost estimates come from individuals identified as expert respondents. Sometimes the estimates given by such individuals may differ with other experts and with public officials. If so, the responses are cross-checked for consistency.
  • The estimates assumed that a business knows what is required and does not waste time. Satisfying regulatory requirements will take longer if the business lacks information or is unable to follow up promptly. A related point here is that DB does not allow for "workarounds", "facilitating fees", and "learning time" that speed or delay approvals and causes variation costs.

Published for seventeen years, the DB has originated a growing body of research on how performance on DB indicators, and reforms generated by the reports, related to specific development desirable outcomes. As stated by the DB 2010, about "405 articles have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals, and about 1143 working papers are available through Google Scholar".

DB was widely used as a study to measure competitiveness. However, regulation rather than competitiveness is the main objective in the DB. Other studies that are also used to measure competitiveness and recognized as business enabling environment ranking systems are the Global Competitiveness Index, the Index of Economic Freedom, and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, among others.[41]

Controversies

2018 manipulation scandal

On 12 January 2018, Paul Romer, the World Bank's chief economist, announced that past releases of the index would be corrected and recalculated going back at least four years. Romer apologized to Chile, saying that the former director of the group responsible for the index had repeatedly manipulated its methodology, unfairly penalizing the country's rankings during the administration of left-wing President Michelle Bachelet. In response, Bachelet announced that Chile would formally request a complete investigation by the World Bank.[42][43] The 2021 WilmerHale report (see below) revealed that there were more extensive data irregularities and manipulation, specifically in China's data.[44]

2020 data irregularities controversy

Several major newspapers – including the Financial Times, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal – report that the data of China, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia among others were suspected to be "inappropriately altered" in the 2020 Doing Business publication.[45][46][47] In light of the data irregularities found in both the 2018 and 2020 reports, the World Bank announced on 27 August 2020 that it would pause the Doing Business publication while it conducts a review of data changes for the last five reports and an internal audit of data integrity.[48]

Following these revelations, some organizations paused the use of Doing Business data, and supplemented these reports with data from alternative indicators measuring the same concepts.[49] On 16 December 2020, the World Bank released 3 reports about the conclusions of the reviews examining the data irregularities:[50]

  • A review of the specific irregularities identified.[50]
  • An independent confirmation of these irregularities.[50]
  • An independent review of Doing Business's processes for data production and management.[51]

These reviews found that, while the specific issues uncovered in this breach had been addressed, a culture where management pressured experts to manipulate data persisted: "The DB team members reported undue pressure, both directly and indirectly by Bank management to manipulate data in 2017 during the 2018 report production process and in 2019 during the 2020 report production process. The lack of a safe speak-up environment within the DB team led to a fear of retaliation for those who would escalate and report pressures to manipulate data. This contributed to the compromise of data integrity in the DB report."[51] These reports found that over half of Doing Business staff interviewed admitted to manipulating data.[52]

Other analytical projects at the World Bank, the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, were also revealed to be "vulnerable to the ordering of questions."[53]

Cancellation and Response

In September 2021, the World Bank discontinued the Doing Business report following the release of an independent report detailing the specifics of the 2020 and 2018 irregularities, including detailed explanations of how senior leaders at the bank manipulated data and pressured experts to change rankings and methodology to improve scores for certain countries.[54][16]

The report from WilmerHale provided details on the 2018 and 2020 manipulation scandals, implicating the then-president of the Bank Jim Yong Kim, the then-CEO of the Bank Kristalina Georgieva, and one of the founders of the report Simeon Djankov, in data manipulation for the purposes of raising the scores of some countries (China and Saudi Arabia) and reducing the scores of others (Azerbaijan).[34][15][44] In 2018 in an effort to secure funding from China, Kim, Georgieva, and Djankov repeatedly pressured the team that creates the data to pursue multiple avenues to improve China's score, eventually resorting to having members of the team unlock the report and change three of China's data points after the scores had been finalized.[55][44] Georgieva issued a statement disagreeing with the characterization of her actions in the report.[56]

According to the report, in 2020 Djankov pressured the Doing Business team to change Saudi Arabia's score in an effort to rank better than Jordan due to extensive Reimbursable Advisory Services contracts between the Bank and Saudi Arabia. The change in methodology also lead to the UAE improving in score but not overall ranking.[44] Also in 2020, Djankov ordered a review of three of Azerbaijan's data points, citing harassment of lawyers as the reason.[57] The team reviewed these data points and concluded that they were accurate. Djankov ignored these recommendations and changed Azerbaijan's score, also altering the overall methodology of the report to ensure that Azerbaijan scored lower, arguing that the government counterparts had pressured respondents.[58]

Beyond these allegations, the report documents a culture of pressure from the highest levels of World Bank management, particularly under the leadership of Djankov.[44][59] According to the report

"nearly every Doing Business employee with whom we spoke described the environment on the Doing Business team under the management of Mr. Djankov to be, at best, deeply problematic, and, at worse, emotionally harrowing. Employees said that Mr. Djankov was a "bully" who instilled fear on the team; that he managed “by terror and intimidation”; that his management style constituted “psychological terrorism” that created a “toxic environment”; that he was a “larger than life fear factor” for everyone on the team; and that his management style was pompous and undiplomatic."[44]

The report also documents the culture of fear that prevented employees from reporting these irregularities, with Djankov threatening retaliation against anyone that threatened his authority, and "dangled promotions in front of Doing Business leadership to incentivize compliance with his personal objectives."[44]

Response to the WilmerHale Report

Following these reports, various agencies expressed concern about the allegations and their effect on the world's faith in data produced by the World Bank.[60][61] US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for strong action to prevent misconduct and strengthen data integrity.[62] Other US agencies called the report "serious and troubling" and quickly replaced data from the Doing Business report with other sources.[61][63]

When these allegations came to light, Georgieva was serving as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.[64] The IMF's board reviewed the allegations, but found that the report "did not conclusively demonstrate" that she engaged in data manipulation.[65] The US government refused to publicly support Georgieva, but did not call for her removal.[65]

Response to Report Cancellation

The cancellation of the report led to a range of responses from academics and think tanks, with some claiming that its cancellation was long overdue, and others arguing it was an overreaction. According to Frédéric Mousseau, the policy director for the progressive Oakland Institute "Even before the extent of the data manipulation came to light and destroyed any credibility of the DBR, the rankings had been built on a flawed premise that rewards countries for reducing their labor standards, destroying the environment, and providing easy access for corporate pillaging and land grabs."[66] The director of policy and research for the Cicero Institute, noted that institutions like the World Bank are especially prone to corruption like this:

"Multilateral institutions like the World Bank are particularly susceptible to such forces. Their structures ensure that each government gets a say, while no one government is held accountable. When Georgieva thanked a data manipulator for doing his “bit for multilateralism,” she was more right than she knew. Like many supposedly not-for-profit international organizations, the World Bank also found ways to peddle its influence. It began selling “Reimbursable Advisory Services” to countries that wanted to improve their ranking on the index."[67]

Others criticized the cancellation of the report. Professor Robert Lawson, Fullinwider Chair in Economic Freedom at Southern Methodist University described this decision as "throwing the baby out with the bathwater."[68] According to Ian Vasquez, director for policy at the Cato Institute, a US-based libertarian think tank:

"It was a serious mistake for the World Bank to discontinue the Doing Business report. It did so out of concerns about data irregularities for two years affecting four countries. Instead of instituting sensible, new measures on process and methodology as recommended by the firm that conducted an independent review for the World Bank, the bank chose to scrap the Doing Business report altogether. From the outside, it very much looks like the decade‐​long campaign by critics of market‐​oriented policies finally triumphed."[69]

Reception

The Doing Business methodology regarding labor regulations was criticized by the International Trade Union Confederation because it favored flexible employment regulations.[70] In early reports, the easier it was to dismiss a worker for economic reasons in a country, the more its rankings improved. The Employing Workers index was revised in Doing Business 2008 to be in full compliance with the 188 International Labour Organization conventions. It has subsequently been removed from the rankings. The ITUC debuted the Global Rights Index in 2014 as a response to the Doing Business report.[71]

In 2008 the World Bank Group's Independent Evaluation Group, a semi-independent watchdog within the World Bank Group, published an evaluation of the Doing Business index.[72] The report, Doing Business: An Independent Evaluation, contained both praise and criticism of Doing Business. The report recommended that the index be clearer about what is and is not measured, disclose changes to published data, recruit more informants, and simplify the Paying Taxes indicator.

In April 2009 the World Bank issued a note with revisions to the Employing Workers index.[73] The note explained that scoring for the "Employing Workers" indicator would be updated in Doing Business 2010 to give favorable scores for complying with relevant ILO conventions. The Employing Workers indicator was also removed as a guidepost for Country Policy and Institutional Assessments, which help determine resources provided to IDA countries.

A study commissioned by the Norwegian government alleges methodological weaknesses, an uncertainty in the ability of the indicators to capture the underlying business climate and a concern that countries may find it easier to change their ranking in Doing Business than to change the underlying business environment.[74]

In 2013, an independent panel appointed by the President of the World Bank and headed by Trevor Manuel of South Africa issued a review expressing concern about the potential for the report and index to be misinterpreted, and the narrowness of the indicators and information base. It recommended that the report be retained, but that the aggregate rankings be removed and that a peer-review process is implemented (among other things). Regarding the topics of Paying Taxes and Employing Workers, it noted that "The latter has already been excluded from the report's rankings. While there is a persuasive case for paying attention to these aspects of doing business, the Bank will need to carefully consider the correct way to assess the regulation and legal environment of these areas if these indicators are to be retained."[75]

In 2018, another independent evaluation,[76] was commissioned by the World Bank Group. The evaluation praised the Doing Business report for its objectivity and focus on regulatory reform. It suggested adding peer-reviewed research papers behind every set of indicators. Subsequently, the World Bank has added one such research article, underlying the indicator on property registration.[77]

Ranking

The last published rankings came from the "Doing Business 2020" report. Ranking of economies was introduced in the "Doing Business 2006" report.[78]

New Zealand topped the Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Singapore topped the Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2007–2016.[79]

One interesting fact is that although richer countries on average are ranked higher than poor countries, there are some remarkable exceptions, particularly oil-rich countries. For example, Kuwait (ranked 83), Qatar (ranked 77), Oman (ranked 68) Saudi Arabia (ranked 62). Compare to lower-income countries: India (ranked 63), Kenya (ranked 56), Colombia (ranked 67), Uzbekistan (ranked 69). Notable exceptions are Norway (ranked 9) and the United Arab Emirates (ranked 16).[80]

China's 2018 ranking, and 2020 rankings of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are alleged to have been artificially strengthened by an internal audit of the rankings.[44] In contrast, Azerbaijan's 2019 ranking is alleged to have been artificially lowered.[44]

Jurisdiction Classification 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006
[81] [82] [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [88] [89] [90] [91] [92] [93] [94] [95]
 New Zealand Very Easy 111122333322221
 Singapore Very Easy 222211111111112
 Hong Kong Very Easy 345453222234457
 Denmark Very Easy 433334555665578
 South Korea Very Easy 55545457881619233023
 United States Very Easy 686877444543333
 Georgia Very Easy 76916241589161211151837100
 United Kingdom Very Easy 8977681077456669
 Norway Very Easy 978696966810101195
 Sweden Very Easy 1012109811141314141817141314
 Lithuania Very Easy 111416212024172727232628261615
 Malaysia Very Easy 12152423181861218212320242521
 Mauritius Very Easy 132025493228201923201724273223
 Australia Very Easy 1418141513101110151099986
 Taiwan Very Easy 151315111119161625334661504735
 United Arab Emirates Very Easy 161121263122232633403346687769
 North Macedonia Very Easy 171011101230252322383271759281
 Estonia Very Easy 181612121617222124172422171716
 Latvia Very Easy 191919142223242521242729222426
 Finland Very Easy 20171313109121111131614131413
 Thailand Very Easy 212726464926181817191213151820
 Germany Very Easy 222420171514212019222525202119
 Canada Very Easy 232218221416191713788744
 Ireland Very Easy 24231718171315151097781011
 Kazakhstan Very Easy 252836354177504947596370716386
 Iceland Very Easy 26212320191213149151411101212
 Austria Very Easy 272622192121302932322827253032
 Russia Very Easy 283135405162921121201231201201069679
 Japan Very Easy 293934343429272420181512121110
 Spain Very Easy 303028323333524444496249383930
 China Very Easy 3146787884*90969191798983839391
 France Very Easy 323231292731383429263131313544
 Turkey Very Easy 334360695555697171657359579193
 Azerbaijan Very Easy 342557656380706766543833969998
 Israel Very Easy 354954525340353834292930292629
 Switzerland Very Easy 363833312620292826272121161517
 Slovenia Very Easy 3740373029*51333537425354556163
 Rwanda Very Easy 3829415662463252455867139150158139
 Portugal Very Easy 393429252325313030314848374042
 Poland Very Easy 403327242532455562707276747554
 Czech Republic Very Easy 413530273644756564637475565241
 Netherlands Very Easy 423632282827283131303026212224
 Bahrain Very Easy 436266636553464238282018———
 Serbia Very Easy 444843485991938692898894866892**
 Slovakia Very Easy 4542393329*37494648414236323637
 Belgium Very Easy 464552424342363328252219192018
 Armenia Very Easy 474147383545373255484344393446
 Moldova Very Easy 48474444526378838190941039210383
 Belarus Very Easy 493738374457635869685885110129106
 Montenegro Very Easy 505042514636445156667190817092**
 Croatia Very Easy 5158514340658984808410310697124118
 Hungary Very Easy 525348414254545451464741456652
 Morocco Very Easy 536069687571879794114128128129115102
 Cyprus Easy 5457534547643936403740————
 Romania Easy 555245363748737272565547484978
 Kenya Easy 56618092108136129121109989582728368
 Kosovo Easy 5744406066758698117119113————
 Italy Easy 585146504556657387807865538270
 Chile Easy 595655574841343739434940332825
 Mexico Easy 6054494738*39534853355156444373
 Bulgaria Easy 6159503938*38586659514445465462
 Saudi Arabia Easy 629292948249262212111316233838
 India Easy 6377100130130142134132132134133122120134116
 Ukraine Easy 647176808396112137152145142145139128124
 Puerto Rico Easy 656464555747404143473535281922
 Brunei Easy 6655567284*101597983112968878——
 Colombia Easy 676559535434434542393753667966
 Oman Easy 687871667066474749576557495551
 Uzbekistan Easy 6976748787141146154166150150138138147138
 Vietnam Easy 7069688290789999987893929110499
 Jamaica Easy 717570676458949088817563635043
 Luxembourg Easy 72666359615960565045645042——
 Indonesia Easy 73737291109114120128129121122129123135115
 Costa Rica Easy 74676162588310211012112512111711510589
 Jordan Easy 7510410311811311711910696111100101807874
 Peru Easy 766858545035424341365662586571
 Qatar Easy 778383836850484036503937———
 Tunisia Easy 788088777460515046556973888058
 Greece Easy 79726761606172781001091099610010980
 Kyrgyzstan Easy 8070777567102687070444168949084
 Mongolia Easy 817462645672767686736058524561
 Albania Easy 8263655897*68908582828286136120117
 Kuwait Easy 839796102101*861048267746152404647
 South Africa Easy 848282747343413935343432352928
 Zambia Easy 8587859897*111839484769010011610267
 Panama Easy 867979706952556161727781658157
 Botswana Easy 878681717274565954524538514840
 Malta Easy 888484768094103102———————
 Bhutan Easy 8981757371125141148142142126124119138104
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Easy 90898681791071311261251101161191059587
 El Salvador Easy 9185739586109118113112868472697176
 San Marino Easy 92889379769381————————
 Saint Lucia Easy 93939186771006453525336343427—
 Nepal Easy 941101051079910810510810711612312111110055
 Philippines Easy 951241139910395108138136148144140133126113
 Guatemala Easy 969897888173799397101110112114118109
 Togo Easy 97137156154150149157156162160165163156151149
 Samoa Medium 989087899667615760615764614139
 Sri Lanka Medium 99100111110107998581891021051021018975
 Seychelles Medium 10096959395858074103951111049084—
 Uruguay Medium 1019594909282888990124114109986485
 Fiji Medium 1021011019788*81626077625439363134
 Tonga Medium 1039189857869576258715243475136
 Namibia Medium 104107106109101*88988778696651434233
 Trinidad and Tobago Medium 1051051029688*796669689781806759—
 Tajikistan Medium 106126123128132166143141147139152159153133—
 Vanuatu Medium 1079490849476748076605960625849
 Pakistan Medium 108136147144138128*110107105838577767460
 Malawi Medium 10911111013314116417115714513313213412711096
 Côte d'Ivoire Medium 110122139142142147167177167169168161155141145
 Dominica Medium 111103981019197*7768658883747772—
 Djibouti Medium 11299154171171155160171170158163153146161—
 Antigua and Barbuda Medium 113112107113104897163576450424133—
 Egypt Medium 11412012812213111212810911094106114126165141
 Dominican Republic Medium 11510299103938411711610891869799117103
 Uganda Medium 11612712211512215013212012312211211111810772
 Palestine Medium 117116114140129143138135131135139131117127125
 Ghana Medium 118114120108114*70676463679287879482
 Bahamas Medium 11911811912110697*847785776855———
 Papua New Guinea Medium 12010810911914513311310410110310295845764
 Eswatini Medium 1211171121111051101231231241181151089576—
 Lesotho Medium 122106104100114*128*13613614313813012312411497
 Senegal Medium 123141140147153161178166154152157149162146132
 Brazil Medium 124109125123116120116130126127129125122121119
 Paraguay Medium 1251131081061009210910310210612411510311288
 Argentina Medium 12611911711612112412612411311511811310910177
 Iran Medium 127128124120118130152145144129137142135119108
 Barbados Medium 1281291321171191069188———————
 Ecuador Medium 129123118114117115135139130130138136128123107
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Medium 1301301291251111038275757570665485—
 Nigeria Medium 13114614516916917014713113313712511810810894
 Niger Medium 132143144150160168176176173173174172169160150
 Honduras Medium 133121115105110104*127125128131141133121111112
 Guyana Medium 134134126124137123115114114100101105104136105
 Belize Medium 135125121112120118106105939980785956—
 Solomon Islands Medium 136115116104112879792749610489796953
 Cape Verde Medium 137131127129126122121122119132146143132125—
 Mozambique Medium 138135138137133127139146139126135141134140110
 Saint Kitts and Nevis Medium 13914013413412412110196958776676444—
 Zimbabwe Medium 140155159161155171170173171157159158152153126
 Tanzania Medium 141144137132139131145134127128131127130142140
 Nicaragua Medium 142132131127125119124119118117117107936759
 Lebanon Medium 143142133126123104*11111510411310899858695
 Cambodia Medium 144138135131127135137133138147145135145143133
 Palau Medium 14613313013613611310011111612097918262—
 Grenada Medium 147147142138135126107100739291847073—
 Maldives Medium 148139136135128116959579858769605331
 Mali Below Average 149145143141143*146155151146153156166158155146
 Benin Below Average 150153151155158151174175175170172169151137129
 Bolivia Below Average 151156152149157157162155153149161150140131111
 Burkina Faso Below Average 152151148146143*167154153150151147148161163154
 Mauritania Below Average 153148150160168176173167159165166160157148127
 Marshall Islands Below Average 1541501491431401391141011061089893898748
 Laos Below Average 155154141139134148159163165171167165164159147
 Gambia Below Average 156149146145151138150147149146140130131113—
 Guinea Below Average 157152153163165169175178179179173171166157144
 Algeria Below Average 158157166156163154153152148136136132125116128
 Micronesia Below Average 15916015515114814515615014014112712611210656
 Ethiopia Below Average 16015916115914613212512711110410711610297101
 Comoros Below Average 160164158153154159158158157159162155146144—
 Madagascar Below Average 161161162167164163148142137140134144149149131
 Suriname Below Average 162165165158156162161164158161155146142122—
 Sierra Leone Below Average 163163160148147140142140141143148156160168136
 Kiribati Below Average 164158157152149134122117115937979736045
 Myanmar Below Average 165172171170167177182————————
 Burundi Below Average 166168164157152152140159169181176177174166143
 Cameroon Below Average 167166163166172158168161161168171164154152130
 Bangladesh Below Average 1681761771761741731301291221071191101078865
 Gabon Below Average 169169167164162144163170156156158151144132—
 São Tomé and Príncipe Below Average 170170169162166153169160163178180176163169123
 Sudan Below Average 171162170168159160149143135154154147143154151
 Iraq Below Average 172171168165161156151165164166153152141145114
 Afghanistan Below Average 173167183183177183164168160167160162159162122
 Guinea-Bissau Below Average 174175176172178179180179176176181179176173—
 Liberia Below Average 175174172174179174144149151155149157170——
 Syria Below Average 176179174173175175165144134144143137137130121
 Angola Below Average 177173175182181181179172172163169168167156135
 Equatorial Guinea Below Average 178177173178180165166162155164170165165150—
 Haiti Below Average 179182181181182180177174174162151154148139134
 Congo Below Average 180180179177176178185183181177179178175171148
 Timor Leste Below Average 181178178175173172172169168174164170168174142
 Chad Below Average 182181180180183185189184183183178175173172152
 Democratic Republic of Congo Below Average 183184182184184184183181178175182181178175155
 Central African Republic Below Average 184183184185185187188185182182183180177167153
 South Sudan Below Average 185185187186187186186————————
 Libya Below Average 186186185188188188187————————
 Yemen Below Average 1871871861791701371331189910599981139890
 Venezuela Below Average 188188188187186182181180177172177174172164120
 Eritrea Below Average 189189189189189189184182180180175173171170137
 Somalia Below Average 190190190190———————————

* – same rank is for multiple jurisdictions
** – the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro

Note: Rankings at the time of annual report publication. Rankings are subject to revision.

See also

References
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